Corpus Christi mother released on bail in salt-poisoning...

1of6Hannah Overton, who was convicted in 2007 capital murder in the death of a child and recently had her conviction overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, reacts as she hears Judge Mario Ramirez say that she will be granted bail during a hearing in Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Her attorney, Cynthia Orr, is at left.Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News

2of6Hannah Overton, who was convicted in 2007 in the death of a child and recently had her conviction overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, smiles during her bail hearing as she sits by a bailiff in Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Overton was granted bail.Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News

3of6Hannah Overton, right, confers with her attorneys, John Raley, left, and Cynthia Orr, during her bail hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014 in Corpus Christi. Overton was convicted in 2007 in the death of a child and recently had her conviction overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Overton was granted bail.Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News

4of6Larry Overton embraces his daughter, Isabel, after bail was granted for their wife and mother, Hannah Overton, during a hearing in Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Hannah Overton was convicted in 2007 in the death of a child and recently had her conviction overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News

5of6Attorney Cynthia Orr embraces Isaac Overton after his mother, Hannah Overton, was granted bail during a hearing in Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Overton was convicted in 2007 in the death of a child and recently had her conviction overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Hannah Overton's husband, Larry, is at left.Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News

6of6Hannah Overton holds Andrew Burd and Alisia Overton in an undated photograph. Hannah Overton was convicted of capital murder in Andrew's death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday overturned her conviction on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel.Photo: Courtesy photo

CORPUS CHRISTI — In a ruling that quickly prompted tears and embraces outside the courtroom, a state district judge Tuesday set Hannah Overton free from jail, setting her bail at $50,000 and giving her unrestricted access to her five children while she awaits a new trial.

Overton had served more than seven years of a life sentence since she was convicted of capital murder in the salt-poisoning death of her foster child Andrew Burd in 2006. An appeals court overturned her conviction in September and ordered a new trial.

Overton bonded out after her afternoon hearing and was released from custody Tuesday night. Her husband, Larry, and all five children cuddled with her on a lawyer’s couch after she was freed.

"It was kind of surreal when she got off the elevator and then held her children for the first time in seven years. It's a long-coming answer to prayer," said Anita Miotti, 47, a member of Calvary Chapel Coastland, the Overtons’ church, which had long lobbied for her release. "I'm overwhelmed. I'm just filled with joy and happiness, and I credit it all to God."

Overton, 37, has always maintained her innocence, and defense experts have argued that Burd, who had an eating disorder, had likely ingested the salt himself.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned her conviction after finding that her lawyers had not provided an effective defense, in part by not calling a leading salt-poisoning expert.

Legal maneuvers and hurdles delayed the bond hearing that finally was held Tuesday by Judge Mario Ramirez, who was appointed last month after trial judge Jose Longoria was removed for lack of impartiality.

After hearing a parade of character witnesses for Overton, including a prison guard and three pastors, Ramirez rejected a prosecution request for a $250,000 bond and to have only supervised contact with her own children.

He also brushed aside prosecution requests that she be placed under house arrest and wear a tracking device.

Because of a gag order imposed by the judge, none of the participants, including family members and lawyers, could comment at the emotional end of the hearing.

Parts of the three and a half-hour hearing Tuesday resembled a dress rehearsal for the trial to come, as Overton's lawyers attacked the evidence and tactics of the prosecution in the sensational three week trial in 2007.

Most of it, however, was given over to testimonials about Overton from people who described her as a compassionate Christian woman with whom they would entrust their own children.

Tanya Subialdea of San Antonio, whose profoundly handicapped son was cared for by Overton years ago, said she was the best caretaker he had ever had.

"She was the only one who cared for him like he was her own child," she said, while her son waited in the hallway in a wheelchair. "I felt that for the first time, I could walk away and go to work, and it would be okay."

Kenneth de Koming, pastor of Waldron Road Baptist Church in Corpus Christi testified that he had known Overton since she was a teenager attending Bible studies at his house.

"I don't have a crystal ball, but I would bet my life on it," he said when asked if he was confident she would act responsibly if released.

The defense even offered the words of praise of Michael Warren, a corrections officer at the Lane Murray Unit, where Overton has served more than seven years.

Murray, who argued for Overton's early release and exoneration, said she was highly admired by inmates, correction officers and prison administrators.

The state presented only one witness, a child safety specialist with Child Protective Services who had reviewed the agency's investigation of the Overtons after Burd's death.

Because of that fatality, as well as allegations about how the Overtons disciplined their own children, Robert Rosetti said it would be risky to allow Overton unsupervised contact with children.

He apparently made little impression on the judge, who quickly tossed aside the restrictions requested by the district attorney’s office.

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka has announced plans to retry Overton for capital murder, but it is not clear when that will take place.

In his announcement, Skurka said, "No jury, no trial judge and no appellate court has ever found that defendant Hannah Overton is not responsible for the death of Andrew Burd."

While the trial jury apparently did not believe claims that Overton had deliberately fed the child a fatal dose of salt, it did find her guilty of being slow to seek medical aid.

Burd died shortly after the Overton's took him to a local clinic on Oct. 6, 2006. Tests showed a fatal dose of salt in his body.

Overton's lead lawyer, Cynthia Orr, however, has filed two motions that, if successful, would spare her client another trial. In one, Orr pleads double jeopardy, claiming that the trial jury has already acquitted Overton of deliberately poisoning Burd.

In the second motion, Orr claims that "murder by omission," for which she was convicted, is not an identifiable offense in the penal code.

"Mrs. Overton cannot be tried for capital murder based on the only remaining theory in the indictment, as a person cannot be convicted of capital murder based on a theory of omission," the motion reads.